Malcolm is the first male heir of Malcolm X. However, this young man has developed into his own as he has overcome obstacle after obstacle in his life. Since his release from prison a few years ago he has been traveling throughout the US and around the world speaking to different audiences about the struggles that confront this generation. Malcolm is a humble, passionate and forceful speaker who’s emerging as a voice for our generation as a writer in the process of publishing his first 2 books.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Malcolm X relative speaks at Ryerson Marwa Hamad Ryersonian Staff

Malcom X’s grandson spoke at
Ryerson Thursday evening about what he called two of the most controversial topics —
politics and religion.

Malcolm Shabazz, 28, is the first
male descendent of Muslim civil and human rights activist Malcolm X. He has
travelled the world to spread a message he shares with his grandfather “the importance of education & unity.”

His talk was a part of the Students
Against Racism event called Freedom Dialogues.

Shabazz said that education does not
just mean textbooks and traditional schooling, but rather anything that raises
awareness, including spoken word, poetry and art.

“Most often, we aren’t aware of our
own oppression,” Shabazz said of marginalized communities. “Today, brothers and sisters walk around as slaves, but they think
they’re free.”

Shabazz was critical of the Occupy
Wall Street movement that swept the world. He said that protesters were
“sitting down” when they should have done more to bring change. He stressed the
importance of using all the tools and technologies that are at protesters’
disposal to make a difference.

When he was the age of most students in his audience, Shabazz spent six years in prison, where he said he came
across the most intelligent men he had ever met. “I knew why they were there.
They were threats. Not threats in a dangerous way, but threats to the status
quo.”

Shabazz said Ryerson students shouldn’t
strive to recreate leaders from the past — like his grandfather or Martin
Luther King — but instead create new voices of resistance.

“Everything we liked
about our previous leaders is a mirror-reflection of something we possess within
ourselves.”